Dynamic local media access control (mac) address assignment

ABSTRACT

A device implementing a dynamic local media access control (MAC) address assignment system may include at least one processor that is configured to initiate a link establishment with a network device. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine whether a previously assigned media access control (MAC) address is stored locally. The at least one processor may be further configured to transmit a message to the network device requesting validation of the previously assigned MAC address when stored locally. The at least one processor may be further configured to communicate using the previously assigned MAC address when the validation is received from the network device, otherwise communicating using a dynamically assigned MAC address received from the network device during the link establishment.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 14/749,549, entitled “Dynamic Local Media Access Control (MAC)Address Assignment,” filed on Jun. 24, 2015, which claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/017,197, entitled“Configuring Devices without Global Media Access Control (MAC)Addresses,” filed on Jun. 25, 2014, both of which are herebyincorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present description relates generally to media access control (MAC)address assignment, including dynamic local MAC address assignment.

BACKGROUND

According to some estimates, more than 30 billion devices will becapable of being connected by 2020. These devices may include sensordevices, automotive devices, wearable devices, computing devices, andthe like. The devices may be configurable to communicate with one ormore other devices, such as to collectively perform one or more tasks,e.g. on behalf of a user and/or an application. The devices may each beassigned a 48-bit MAC address, such as at the time of manufacture, tofacilitate communications between the devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Certain features of the subject technology are set forth in the appendedclaims. However, for purpose of explanation, several embodiments of thesubject technology are set forth in the following figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment in which dynamic localMAC address assignment may be implemented in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process of local dynamiclocal MAC address assignment in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process of distributeddynamic local MAC address assignment in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process of dynamic localMAC address self-assignment in accordance with one or moreimplementations.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates an electronic system with which one ormore implementations of the subject technology may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below is intended as a description ofvarious configurations of the subject technology and is not intended torepresent the only configurations in which the subject technology may bepracticed. The appended drawings are incorporated herein and constitutea part of the detailed description. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof the subject technology. However, the subject technology is notlimited to the specific details set forth herein and may be practicedusing one or more implementations. In one or more instances, structuresand components are shown in block diagram form in order to avoidobscuring the concepts of the subject technology.

The subject dynamic local MAC address assignment system allows locallyunique MAC addresses to be assigned dynamically, e.g. on-demand, whendevices are powered on and ready to utilize a MAC address, rather than(or in addition to) assigning MAC addresses to devices at the time ofmanufacture. In this manner, the subject system can reassign locallyunique MAC addresses to devices, thereby reducing consumption of localMAC address space particularly by the increasing number of small ortransient devices and by ports of virtual machines. Thus, the subjectsystem significantly improves the utilization of MAC addresses, e.g. byonly assigning MAC addresses that are unique on the local network todevices and allowing devices on other networks to reuse that pool oflocally unique MAC addresses rather than assigning globally uniqueaddresses, thereby extending the of the longevity of the 48-bit MACaddress assignment system.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example network environment 100 in which dynamiclocal MAC address assignment may be implemented in accordance with oneor more implementations. Not all of the depicted components may berequired, however, and one or more implementations may includeadditional components not shown in the figure. Variations in thearrangement and type of the components may be made without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the claims as set forth herein. Additionalcomponents, different components, or fewer components may be provided.

The example network environment 100 includes a vehicle networkenvironment 105A, a home network environment 105B, a network 115, andone or more servers 120A-C. The network 115 may be a publiccommunication network (such as the Internet, cellular data network,dialup modems over a telephone network) or a private communicationsnetwork (such as private local area network (“LAN”), leased lines). Theone or more servers 120A-C may each be a single computing device such asa computer server. In another example, each of the one or more servers120A-C may represent one or more computing devices (such as a cloud ofcomputers and/or a distributed system) that are communicatively coupled,such as communicatively coupled over the network 115, that collectively,or individually, perform one or more functions that can be performedserver-side, such as coordinating dynamic MAC address assignment. One ormore of the servers 120A-C may be geographically separated.

The vehicle network environment 105A includes a number of electronicdevices 102A-C that are coupled to a network device 110A via thetransmission lines 108. The network device 110A may communicably couplethe electronic devices 102A-C to one another. One or more of theelectronic devices 102A-C may be communicatively coupled directly to oneanother, such as without the support of the network device 110A. Thetransmission lines 108 are Ethernet transmission lines, such as one ormore twisted pair of wires. The network device 110A may be, or mayinclude, a switch device, a bridge device, a routing device, a hubdevice, or generally any device that may communicably couple theelectronic devices 102A-C. One or more of the electronic devices 102A-Cand/or the network device 110A may include, or may be, the electronicsystem 500 of FIG. 5.

In the vehicle network environment 105A, the electronic devices 102A-Cmay include, or may be coupled to, various systems within a vehicle,such as a powertrain system, a chassis system, a telematics system, anentertainment system, a camera system, a sensor system, such as a lanedeparture system, a diagnostics system, or generally any system that maybe used in a vehicle. In FIG. 1, the electronic devices 102A aredepicted as camera devices, such as forward-view, rear-view andside-view cameras, the electronic device 102B is depicted as an on-boarddiagnostics system, and the electronic devices 102C are depicted asentertainment systems. The network device 110A is communicably coupledto a network 115, such as the Internet. For example, the network device110A may be communicably coupled to the network 115 via a cellularcommunication link, such as a long-term evolution (LTE) link.

The home network environment 105B includes a number of electronicdevices 102D-H that are coupled to a network device 110B. The networkdevice 110B may communicably couple the electronic devices 102D-H to oneanother. In one or more implementations, one or more of the electronicdevices 102D-H may be communicatively coupled directly to one another,such as without the support of the network device 110B. The networkdevice 110B may be, or may include, a switch device, a bridge device, arouting device, a hub device, or generally any device that maycommunicably couple the electronic devices 102D-H. One or more of theelectronic devices 102D-H and/or the network device 110B may include, ormay be, the electronic system 500 of FIG. 5.

The network device 110B and/or one or more of the electronic devices102D-H may include one or more communication modules for establishingnetwork connections, and/or for dynamic assignment of MAC addresses, viaone or more wired and/or wireless networking technologies. The one ormore networking technologies may include, for example, Bluetooth,Zigbee, WiFi, infra-red, WiFi Direct, Ethernet, powerline, coaxial, orgenerally any wireless or wired communication technologies. The networkdevice 110B is a gateway device may communicatively couples theelectronic devices 102D-H with the network 115, such as the Internet.

In the home network environment 105B of FIG. 1, the electronic device102D is depicted as a lighting device, the electronic device 102E isdepicted as a smoke detector device, the electronic device 102F isdepicted as a thermostat device, the electronic device 102G is depictedas a security device, the electronic device 102H is depicted as atelevision device, and the network device 110B is depicted as a set-topbox device.

The electronic devices 102A-H and the network devices 110A-B mayimplement a physical layer (PHY) that is interoperable with one or moreaspects of one or more physical layer specifications, such as thosedescribed in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.3 Standards. The electronic devices 102A-H and the networkdevices 110A-B may be assigned and/or associated with addresses, e.g.48-bit MAC addresses and/or other layer 2 addresses, that are used toidentify the electronic devices 102A-H and the network devices 110A-B,e.g. when communicating with one another, such as directly and/or overthe network 115.

One or more of the electronic devices 102A-H and/or the network devices110A-B may be assigned a global MAC address at the time of manufactureand/or one or more of the electronic devices 102A-H and/or the networkdevices 110A-B may be dynamically assigned a local MAC address, as isdiscussed further below with respect to FIGS. 2-4. In one or moreimplementations, one or more of the electronic devices 102A-H that areassigned a global MAC address at the time of manufacture may also bedynamically assigned a local MAC address. In this instance, the one ormore electronic devices 102A-H may utilize the dynamically assignedlocal MAC address rather than the global MAC address that was assignedat the time of manufacture.

The servers 120A-C and/or the network devices 110A-B, either of whichmay be referred to as address distributing devices and/or addressdistributors, may each coordinate the assignment of separatenon-overlapping blocks of local MAC addresses to the electronic devices102A-H. The servers 120A-C and/or the network devices 110A-B may alsodiscover each other and cooperatively interoperate to divide the localMAC addresses that are available for assignment to the electronicdevices 102A-H.

For example, one or more of the electronic devices 102A-H may bedynamically assigned a local MAC address by one of the network devices110A-B during link establishment, as is discussed further below withrespect to FIG. 2. Alternatively, and/or in addition, one or more of theelectronic devices 102A-H and/or the network devices 110A-B may bedynamically assigned a local MAC address by one or more of the servers120A-C, as is discussed further below with respect to FIG. 3.Furthermore, one or more of the electronic devices 102A-H may claim andself-assign a local MAC address, as is discussed further below withrespect to FIG. 4.

In one or more implementations, the example network environment 100 mayalso include one or more personal area networks, medical networks,and/or industrial networks that include manufacturing equipment, e.g.networks within a machine and/or networks between machines, and thelike. For example, in an industrial network example devices may includesensors, such as thermometers, pressure sensors, position sensors,actuators (e.g. motors, heaters, valves, etc.), cameras, controllers,and the like. In one or more implementations, the electronic devices102A-H may be a system on a chip (or a module containing one or a smallnumber of chips and sensors and/or actuators), and/or one or more of theelectronic devices 102A-H may not include an input or output deviceinterface, e.g. one or more of the electronic devices 102A-H may justinclude a temperature or pressure sensor, or an output to drive asolenoid or stepper motor, and/or a camera device for input. One or moreof the electronic devices 102A-H may be a thermostat, a light bulb whichreceives instructions on the amount of light to put out and when to turnon or off, e.g. any other input and/or output may occur over the networkconnection, and/or a medical sensor, e.g. in a pill that is swallowedand outputs data through a wireless connection on conditions in thedigestive track.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 200 of localdynamic MAC address assignment in accordance with one or moreimplementations. For explanatory purposes, the example process 200 isprimarily described herein with reference to the electronic device 102Aand the network device 110A of FIG. 1; however, the example process 200is not limited to the electronic device 102A and/or the network device110A of FIG. 1. For example, the example process 200 may be performed byone or more of the electronic devices 102B-H and/or the network device110B, and the example process 200 may be performed by one or morecomponents of the electronic device 102A and/or the network device 110A.Further for explanatory purposes, the blocks of the example process 200are described herein as occurring in serial, or linearly. However,multiple blocks of the example process 200 may occur in parallel. Inaddition, the blocks of the example process 200 need not be performed inthe order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of the example process200 need not be performed.

The electronic device 102A initiates autonegotiation for linkestablishment with the network device 110A (202). The network device110A may be and/or may include a switch device that is responsible forthe assignment of a block of local MAC addresses. The electronic device102A determines whether a MAC address that was previously dynamicallyassigned to it, e.g. by the network device 110A, is stored locally, suchas in a flash memory (204). If there is no locally stored MAC addressthat was previously dynamically assigned (204), the electronic device102A waits for an autonegotiation page from the network device 110A thatincludes a MAC address dynamically assigned to the electronic device102A by the network device 110A (210). For example, the autonegotiationpage may be a next page and/or a base page, such as the next page and/orbase page defined by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) clause 28 (CL28) and/or clause 73 (CL73), respectively. In one ormore implementations, the electronic device 102A may set a bit in a basepage to request a dynamic MAC address assignment from the network device110A.

If the network device 110A does not have an address block available forassignment, the network device 110A may transmit a next page thatindicates that there are presently no MAC addresses available forassignment. The network device 110A may repeat the next page untiladdresses are available, and/or the autonegotiation may be terminated,such as to conserve energy, and restarted at a later time, such as aftera wait timer has expired.

In one or more implementations, the network device 110A may transmit arequest for a block of addresses to one or more of the servers 120A-C,such as by sending a multicast packet requesting an address block to adistributor multicast address, as is discussed further below withrespect to FIG. 3. Alternatively, and/or in addition, the network device110A may obtain an address block using the process 200. For example, arequest, such as a base page, may include two bits that can be set torequest address assignment during autonegotiation. One of the bits maybe set to indicate that the address requesting device is an end nodethat needs a single address, such as the electronic device 102A, and theother bit may be set to indicate that the address requesting device,such as the network device 110A, needs an address block for distributionto other devices, such as the electronic devices 102A-C. The response tothe request for an address block may include a base address plus anumber of consecutive addresses above (and/or below) the base addressthat are assigned to the network device 110A for distribution.

Thus, a main address distributor, such as one or more of the servers120A-C, may provide a range of addresses to each device that is directlyattached to a port of the main address distributor. Each of the attacheddevices may keep the addresses it needs for its own ports and distributethe remaining addresses to the devices attached to it, and so on.

In one or more implementations, the network device 110A may beconfigured with a global MAC address, such as at the time ofmanufacture, and/or the network device 110A may be assigned a MACaddress via one or more of the processes discussed with respect to FIGS.2-4. Alternatively, and/or in addition, the network device 110A may beassigned a certain unicast address by default, such as the same upper 24bits as the assigned address and all zeros for the lower 24 bits. Thenetwork device 110A may locally cache its MAC address assignment and mayalso cache the MAC addresses that it dynamically assigns to each port,e.g. to each of the electronic devices 102A-C coupled to each port, suchthat the address assignments can be restored upon a power cycle.

If the electronic device 102A determines that a MAC address that waspreviously dynamically assigned to it is stored locally (204), theelectronic device 102A transmits an autonegotiation page to the networkdevice 110A that includes the stored MAC address and requests forvalidation (or confirmation) of the stored MAC address (206). If the MACaddress that was previously dynamically assigned to the electronicdevice 102A is still valid, the network device 110A transmits anautonegotiation page indicating the same to the electronic device 102A,and the electronic device 102A communicates, e.g. with the electronicdevices 102B-C over the transmission lines 108, and/or over the network115, using the dynamically assigned MAC address (212).

If the MAC address that was previously dynamically assigned to theelectronic device 102A is no longer valid (208), the network device 110Atransmits an autonegotiation page indicating the same to the electronicdevice 102A, and the electronic device 102A waits for a dynamic MACaddress assignment from the network device 110A (210).

In one or more implementations, if the electronic device 102A hasestablished a link with the network device 110A, the electronic device102A may utilize layer type-length-value (TLV) structures of link layerdiscovery protocol (LLDP) packets to communicate with the network device110A, e.g. in lieu of autonegotiation pages.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 300 ofdistributed dynamic MAC address assignment in accordance with one ormore implementations For explanatory purposes, the example process 300is primarily described herein with reference to the electronic device102A, the network device 110A, and the server 120A of FIG. 1; however,the example process 300 is not limited to the electronic device 102A,the network device 110A, and/or the server 120A of FIG. 1. For example,the example process 300 may be performed by one or more of theelectronic devices 102B-H, the network device 110B, and/or the servers120B-C, and the example process 300 may be performed by one or morecomponents of the electronic device 102A, the network device 110A,and/or the server 120A. Further for explanatory purposes, the blocks ofthe example process 300 are described herein as occurring in serial, orlinearly. However, multiple blocks of the example process 300 may occurin parallel. In addition, the blocks of the example process 300 need notbe performed in the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of theexample process 300 need not be performed.

When the electronic device 102A is powered on and/or initialized, theelectronic device 102A transmits an address request packet, such as amulticast packet or multicast protocol data unit (PDU), including adevice identifier (or port identifier) to an address distribution group(302). In one or more implementations, the electronic device 102Atransmits the address request in a type-length-value (TLV) structure ofa link layer discovery protocol (LLDP) packet. Since the electronicdevice 102A does not yet have a dynamically assigned MAC address, thesource MAC address of the address request packet may be a null MACaddress and/or a well-known, e.g. pre-configured/established/reserved,MAC address that is reserved for address request packets. The null MACaddress may not be used as a destination address in the networkenvironment 100. Network devices, such as bridges, that are newly addedto the network environment 100 can disable learning the null orpre-configured MAC address when seen as a source address.

The destination MAC address of the address request packet may be awell-known, e.g. pre-configured/established, group MAC address, e.g. amulticast address, that addresses one or more devices configured todistribute MAC addresses, such as the network device 110A and/or one ormore of the servers 120A-C, such as the server 120A. The address requestpacket may include an Ethertype field set to “address distribution,” anda subtype field set to “request.” The payload may include the deviceidentifier associated with the electronic device 102A. The addressrequest packet may further include a type field associated with thedevice identifier that indicates the type of the identifier, such as aninternet protocol (IP) address, a 64-bit random number, a 64-bitextended unique identifier (EUI), a unique serial number (ICCID), e.g.from a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, and/or any otheridentifier value, such as values allowed for device identifiers in IEE802.1AB-2009 (e.g. table 8-3). The payload of the address request packetmay also include a previously dynamically assigned MAC address, if any,when the type identifier isn't a random number. In this manner, thepreviously assigned MAC address may be reassigned to the electronicdevice 102A when no conflicts exist, e.g. when still valid.

An address distributor, such as the network device 110A and/or theserver 120A, receives the address request packet and responds with anaddress response packet that is then received by the electronic device102A (304). The source MAC address of the address response packet is theMAC address of the address distributor, such as the network device 110Aand/or the server 120A. Since the electronic device 102A does not have aMAC address assigned yet, the destination address of the addressresponse packet is a well-known, e.g. pre-configured/established, groupMAC address, such as a multicast address, that is reserved for addressresponse packets that are received by all devices requesting MACaddresses, such as the electronic device 102A and any other devicesrequesting a MAC address. The address response packet may include anEthertype field that is set to “address distribution,” and may include asubtype field that is set to “response.” The payload of the addressresponse packet includes a MAC address assignment and a deviceidentifier corresponding to the device to which the address distributorhas assigned the MAC address.

The electronic device 102A checks the device identifier of the addressresponse packet. If the device identifier of the address response packetdoes not match the device identifier of the electronic device 102A(306), the electronic device 102A discards the address response packet(308) and continues to listen for another address response packet (304).If the device identifier of the address response packet matches thedevice identifier associated with the electronic device 102A (306), theelectronic device 102A starts communicating using the dynamicallyassigned MAC address of the address response packet (310).

In one or more implementations, instead of addressing the addressrequest packet to a group MAC address, the electronic device 102A mayaddress the address request packet to the nearest network device, e.g.the nearest bridge device, such as the network device 110A. Thus, theaddress response packet may include the MAC address of the networkdevice 110A as the destination address. Although the device identifiermay not be needed for point-to-point links, its use may allow formulti-point or point to multi-point links, such as Ethernet passiveoptical network (EPON) or wireless port to access point. Since in thisinstance the address request packets are received by the port of thenetwork device 110A, and do not pass through to other network devices,such as bridge relays, the other network devices may not try to learnthe null or reserved MAC address used in the address request packets.The network device 110A may obtain a block of MAC addresses fordistribution, such as from the server 120A, and may transmit an addressresponse packet assigning one of the MAC addresses to the electronicdevice 102A.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of an example process 400 of dynamicMAC address self-assignment in accordance with one or moreimplementations. For explanatory purposes, the example process 400 isprimarily described herein with reference to the electronic device 102Aof FIG. 1; however, the example process 400 is not limited to theelectronic device 102A of FIG. 1. For example, the example process 400may be performed by one or more of the electronic devices 102B-H and/orone or more of the network devices 110A-B, and the example process 400may be performed by one or more components of the electronic device102A. Further for explanatory purposes, the blocks of the exampleprocess 400 are described herein as occurring in serial, or linearly.However, multiple blocks of the example process 400 may occur inparallel. In addition, the blocks of the example process 400 need not beperformed in the order shown and/or one or more of the blocks of theexample process 400 need not be performed.

The electronic device 102A generates a proposed MAC address (402). Forexample, the electronic device 102A may generate the proposed MACaddress such that the upper 24-bits are a fixed value, e.g. apre-configured/established value, and the lower 24-bits are a randomvalue. If the electronic device 102A has a locally stored MAC addressthat was previously dynamically assigned, the electronic device 102A mayuse the locally stored MAC address as the proposed MAC address.

The electronic device 102A then transmits an address probe requestpacket that has a payload containing the proposed MAC address and adevice identifier of the electronic device 102A (404) and starts a probetimer (406). The address probe request packet may use a null MAC address(or a reserved MAC address) as the source address and the destinationaddress may be an address claim group address. The address claim groupaddress may be, for example, a multicast address and/or a broadcastaddress that is addressed to one or more of the electronic devices102A-H and/or the network devices 110A-B. An Ethertype field of theaddress probe request packet may be set to “address claim” and a subtypefield of the address probe request packet may be set to “probe request.”The electronic device 102A may transmit the address probe request packeta number of times, such as three times, with a wait time betweentransmissions to allow for packet loss.

If another of the electronic devices 102B-H, such as the electronicdevice 102B, has already claimed the proposed MAC address and receivesthe probe request packet, the electronic device 102B responds with aprobe reply packet that has a payload including the proposed MAC addressand the device identifier of the electronic device 102A, which indicatesthat the proposed MAC address has already been claimed and is in use byanother device. The probe reply packet may include the proposed MACaddress as the source address if the proposed MAC address is alreadytaken; otherwise, the probe reply packet may include a null (orreserved) MAC address as the source address. The destination address ofthe probe reply packet may be the address claim group address. The probereply packet may include an Ethertype field set to “address claim” and asubtype field set to “probe reply.”

If the electronic device 102A receives a probe reply packet, such asfrom the electronic device 102B (408), the electronic device 102Adetermines whether the probe reply packet includes the MAC addressproposed by the electronic device 102A and the device identifier of theelectronic device 102A (410). If the probe reply packet includes theproposed MAC address and the device identifier of the electronic device102A (410), the electronic device 102A generates another proposed MACaddress (402) and repeats (404)-(408).

If the electronic device 102A does not receive a probe reply packet(408) or if the probe reply packet does not include the proposed MACaddress and device identifier of the electronic device 102A (410), theelectronic device 102A determines whether an address probe requestpacket is received that includes the MAC address proposed by theelectronic device 102A, such as from the electronic device 102B (412).If the electronic device 102A receives an address probe request packetthat includes the MAC address proposed by the electronic device 102A(412), the electronic device 102A determines whether the device thattransmitted the probe request packet, such as the electronic device 102Bhas priority over the electronic device 102A (414). For example, theelectronic device 102A may compare its device identifier typeconcatenated with its device identifier to the device identifier type ofthe probe request packet concatenated with the device identifier of theprobe request packet. If the concatenated device identifier type anddevice identifier of the electronic device 102A is less than, e.g.numerically less than, the concatenated device identifier type anddevice identifier of the probe request, then the electronic device 102Adoes not have priority (414) and the electronic device 102A generatesanother proposed MAC address and repeats (404)-(412).

If the concatenated device identifier type and device identifier of theelectronic device 102A is greater than, e.g. numerically, theconcatenated device identifier type and device identifier of the proberequest, then the electronic device 102A has priority (414) and theelectronic device 102A transmits a probe response packet that containsthe device identifier and MAC address of the probe request packet (416),thereby notifying the electronic device 102B that it should generate adifferent MAC address. In one or more implementations, the address proberequest packet may include a priority field that indicates the priorityof the device transmitting the address probe request packet.

The electronic device 102A then determines whether an address claimpacket has been received that includes the MAC address proposed by theelectronic device 102A (418). If the electronic device 102A receives anaddress claim packet that includes the MAC address proposed by theelectronic device 102A (418), the electronic device 102A generatesanother proposed MAC address (402) and repeats (404)-(418). If theelectronic device 102A does not receive an address claim packet thatincludes the MAC address proposed by the electronic device 102A (418),the electronic device 102A determines whether the probe timer hasexpired, or reached a timeout value (420). The probe timer is set toallot sufficient time for the other electronic devices 102B-H totransmit a probe response packet, if necessary.

If the probe timer has not expired or reached a timeout value (420), theelectronic device 102A continues performing (408)-(420). If the probetimer has expired or reached a timeout value (420), the electronicdevice 102A transmits an address claim packet (422) indicating that theelectronic device 102A has claimed the proposed MAC address. The addressclaim packet may include a source address set to a null (or reserved)MAC address, a destination address set to the address claim groupaddress, an Ethertype field set to “address claim,” a subtype field setto “claim,” and a payload that includes the device identifier of theelectronic device 102A and the local MAC address proposed and claimed bythe electronic device 102A. The electronic device 102A then startscommunicating using the proposed and claimed (e.g. self-assigned) MACaddress (424). Accordingly, the electronic device 102A can claim a MACaddress without facilitation from the servers 120A-C and/or the networkdevices 110A-B. The electronic device 102A continues to listen foraddress probe requests for its claimed MAC address. If such an addressprobe request is received, the electronic device 102A transmits anappropriate address probe reply and/or address claim packet.

In one or more implementations, the electronic device 102A mayperiodically transmit and/or receive address beacon packets, which maybe used to detect any MAC address conflicts that might arise. An addressbeacon packet may have a source address set to a null (or reserved) MACaddress, a destination address set to the address claim group address,an Ethertype field set to “address claim,” a subtype field set to“beacon,” and a payload that includes a device identifier and MACaddress, e.g. of the device transmitting the address beacon packet.

If the electronic device 102A receives an address beacon packet thatincludes the MAC address claimed by the electronic device 102A, theelectronic device 102A checks whether it has priority over the devicetransmitting the address beacon, e.g. as discussed above (414). If theelectronic device 102A has priority, the electronic device 102Atransmits an address beacon packet to indicate that it has claimed theMAC address so that the other device will stop using the MAC address(e.g. after determining that the electronic device 102A has priority inthe manner discussed above (414)). If the electronic device 102A doesnot have priority, the electronic device 102A stops operation andgenerates another proposed MAC address (402).

In one or more implementations, a server (in an adjacent bridge and/or acentral server), such as the server 120A, may listen on the addressclaim group address to receive the address probe packets, the probereply packets, the address claim packets, etc. When the server 120Areceives an address probe packet, the server 120A may respond with apacket indicating that there is an address server and may provide a MACaddress to the probing device. Alternatively, or in addition, the server120A may keep a record of all probed and claimed MAC addresses and mayrespond with a message to assign an alternate address when the server120A identifies that a probed address conflicts with an already claimedor probed address.

In one or more implementations, the network device 110A may operate as arelay between the electronic device 102A and one or more of the servers120A-C, such as the server 120A. For example, the network device 110Amay encapsulate an address request packet received from the electronicdevice 102A into a relay PDU with the source address set to the MACaddress of the network device 110A and may transmit the relay PDU to theserver 120A. The encapsulation may include a device identifier of thenetwork device 110A and/or the electronic device 102A. The server 120Amay transmit an address response packet to the network device 110A whichthen relays the response to the address claim group address, from whichit can be received by the electronic device 102A. The network device110A may use the device identifier to choose the output port for therelayed message, e.g. to send the relayed message directly to theelectronic device 102A, thereby reducing multicast traffic.

FIG. 5 conceptually illustrates an electronic system 500 with which oneor more implementations of the subject technology may be implemented.The electronic system 500, for example, may be, or may be coupled to, apowertrain system, a chassis system, a telematics system, anentertainment system, a camera system, a sensor system, such as a lanedeparture system, a diagnostics system, a gateway device, a set-top box,a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a server, aswitch, a router, a base station, a receiver, a phone, a wearabledevice, or generally any electronic device that transmits signals, e.g.over a network. The electronic system 500 can be, and/or can be a partof, one or more of the electronic devices 102A-H, one or more of thenetwork devices 110A-B, and/or one or more of the servers 120A-C. Suchan electronic system 500 includes various types of computer readablemedia and interfaces for various other types of computer readable media.The electronic system 500 includes a bus 508, one or more processor(s)512, a system memory 504 or buffer, a read-only memory (ROM) 510, apermanent storage device 502, an input device interface 514, an outputdevice interface 506, and one or more network interface(s) 516, orsubsets and variations thereof.

The bus 508 collectively represents all system, peripheral, and chipsetbuses that communicatively connect the numerous internal devices of theelectronic system 500. In one or more implementations, the bus 508communicatively connects the one or more processor(s) 512 with the ROM510, the system memory 504, and the permanent storage device 502. Fromthese various memory units, the one or more processor(s) 512 retrieveinstructions to execute and data to process in order to execute theprocesses of the subject disclosure. The one or more processor(s) 512can be a single processor or a multi-core processor in differentimplementations.

The ROM 510 stores static data and instructions that are needed by theone or more processor(s) 512 and other modules of the electronic system500. The permanent storage device 502, on the other hand, may be aread-and-write memory device. The permanent storage device 502 may be anon-volatile memory unit that stores instructions and data even when theelectronic system 500 is off. In one or more implementations, amass-storage device (such as a magnetic or optical disk and itscorresponding disk drive) may be used as the permanent storage device502.

In one or more implementations, a removable storage device (such as afloppy disk, flash drive, and its corresponding disk drive) may be usedas the permanent storage device 502. Like the permanent storage device502, the system memory 504 may be a read-and-write memory device.However, unlike the permanent storage device 502, the system memory 504may be a volatile read-and-write memory, such as random access memory.The system memory 504 may store any of the instructions and data thatone or more processor(s) 512 may need at runtime. In one or moreimplementations, the processes of the subject disclosure are stored inthe system memory 504, the permanent storage device 502, and/or the ROM510. From these various memory units, the one or more processor(s) 512retrieve instructions to execute and data to process in order to executethe processes of one or more implementations.

The bus 508 also connects to the input and output device interfaces 514and 506. The input device interface 514 enables a user to communicateinformation and select commands to the electronic system 500. Inputdevices that may be used with the input device interface 514 mayinclude, for example, alphanumeric keyboards and pointing devices (alsocalled “cursor control devices”). The output device interface 506 mayenable, for example, the display of images generated by the electronicsystem 500. Output devices that may be used with the output deviceinterface 506 may include, for example, printers and display devices,such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED)display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, a flexibledisplay, a flat panel display, a solid state display, a projector, orany other device for outputting information. One or more implementationsmay include devices that function as both input and output devices, suchas a touchscreen. In these implementations, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback, such as visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback; and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

As shown in FIG. 5, the bus 508 also couples the electronic system 500to one or more networks (not shown), and/or one or more of theelectronic devices 102A-D, through one or more network interface(s) 516.One or more network interface(s) may include an Ethernet interface, aWiFi interface, a Bluetooth interface, a cellular interface, a powerline interface, a multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA) interface, areduced gigabit media independent interface (RGMII), or generally anyinterface for connecting to a network. The one or more networkinterfaces 516 may include, or may be coupled to, a physical layermodule. In this manner, the electronic system 500 can be a part of oneor more networks of computers (such as a local area network (“LAN”), awide area network (“WAN”), or an Intranet, or a network of networks,such as the Internet. Any or all components of the electronic system 500can be used in conjunction with the subject disclosure. In one or moreimplementations, one or more of the components of the electronic system500 may not be present, such as one or more of the output deviceinterface 506, the input device interface 514, the storage device 502,other non-volatile storage devices, and/or any of the other componentsof the electronic system 500.

Implementations within the scope of the present disclosure can bepartially or entirely realized using a tangible computer-readablestorage medium (or multiple tangible computer-readable storage media ofone or more types) encoding one or more instructions. The tangiblecomputer-readable storage medium also can be non-transitory in nature.

The computer-readable storage medium can be any storage medium that canbe read, written, or otherwise accessed by a general purpose or specialpurpose computing device, including any processing electronics and/orprocessing circuitry capable of executing instructions. For example,without limitation, the computer-readable medium can include anyvolatile semiconductor memory, such as RAM, DRAM, SRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM,and TTRAM. The computer-readable medium also can include anynon-volatile semiconductor memory, such as ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM,NVRAM, flash, nvSRAM, FeRAM, FeTRAM, MRAM, PRAM, CBRAM, SONOS, RRAM,NRAM, racetrack memory, FJG, and Millipede memory.

Further, the computer-readable storage medium can include anynon-semiconductor memory, such as optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage, magnetic tape, other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium capable of storing one or more instructions. In someimplementations, the tangible computer-readable storage medium can bedirectly coupled to a computing device, while in other implementations,the tangible computer-readable storage medium can be indirectly coupledto a computing device, e.g., via one or more wired connections, one ormore wireless connections, or any combination thereof.

Instructions can be directly executable or can be used to developexecutable instructions. For example, instructions can be realized asexecutable or non-executable machine code or as instructions in ahigh-level language that can be compiled to produce executable ornon-executable machine code. Further, instructions also can be realizedas or can include data. Computer-executable instructions also can beorganized in any format, including routines, subroutines, programs, datastructures, objects, modules, applications, applets, functions, etc. Asrecognized by those of skill in the art, details including, but notlimited to, the number, structure, sequence, and organization ofinstructions can vary significantly without varying the underlyinglogic, function, processing, and output.

While the above discussion primarily refers to microprocessor ormulti-core processors that execute software, one or more implementationsare performed by one or more integrated circuits, such as applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs) or field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs). In one or more implementations, such integrated circuitsexecute instructions that are stored on the circuit itself.

Those of skill in the art would appreciate that the various illustrativeblocks, modules, elements, components, methods, and algorithms describedherein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, orcombinations of both. To illustrate this interchangeability of hardwareand software, various illustrative blocks, modules, elements,components, methods, and algorithms have been described above generallyin terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality isimplemented as hardware or software depends upon the particularapplication and design constraints imposed on the overall system.Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varyingways for each particular application. Various components and blocks maybe arranged differently (e.g., arranged in a different order, orpartitioned in a different way), and/or various components and blocksmay not be present in one or more implementations, all without departingfrom the scope of the subject technology.

It is understood that any specific order or hierarchy of blocks in theprocesses disclosed is an illustration of example approaches. Based upondesign preferences, it is understood that the specific order orhierarchy of blocks in the processes may be rearranged, or that allillustrated blocks be performed. Any of the blocks may be performedsimultaneously. In one or more implementations, multitasking andparallel processing may be advantageous. Moreover, the separation ofvarious system components in the embodiments described above should notbe understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and itshould be understood that the described program components and systemscan generally be integrated together in a single software product orpackaged into multiple software products.

As used in this specification and any claims of this application, theterms “base station”, “receiver”, “computer”, “server”, “processor”, and“memory” all refer to electronic or other technological devices. Theseterms exclude people or groups of people. For the purposes of thespecification, the terms “display” or “displaying” means displaying onan electronic device.

As used herein, the phrase “at least one of” preceding a series ofitems, with the term “and” or “or” to separate any of the items,modifies the list as a whole, rather than each member of the list (i.e.,each item). The phrase “at least one of” does not require selection ofat least one of each item listed; rather, the phrase allows a meaningthat includes at least one of any one of the items, and/or at least oneof any combination of the items, and/or at least one of each of theitems. By way of example, the phrases “at least one of A, B, and C” or“at least one of A, B, or C” each refer to only A, only B, or only C;any combination of A, B, and C; and/or at least one of each of A, B, andC.

The predicate words “configured to”, “operable to”, and “programmed to”do not imply any particular tangible or intangible modification of asubject, but, rather, are intended to be used interchangeably. In one ormore implementations, a processor configured to monitor and control anoperation or a component may also mean the processor being programmed tomonitor and control the operation or the processor being operable tomonitor and control the operation. Likewise, a processor configured toexecute code can be construed as a processor programmed to execute codeor operable to execute code.

Phrases such as an aspect, the aspect, another aspect, some aspects, oneor more aspects, an implementation, the implementation, anotherimplementation, some implementations, one or more implementations, anembodiment, the embodiment, another embodiment, some embodiments, one ormore embodiments, a configuration, the configuration, anotherconfiguration, some configurations, one or more configurations, thesubject technology, the disclosure, the present disclosure, othervariations thereof and alike are for convenience and do not imply that adisclosure relating to such phrase(s) is essential to the subjecttechnology or that such disclosure applies to all configurations of thesubject technology. A disclosure relating to such phrase(s) may apply toall configurations, or one or more configurations. A disclosure relatingto such phrase(s) may provide one or more examples. A phrase such as anaspect or some aspects may refer to one or more aspects and vice versa,and this applies similarly to other foregoing phrases.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any embodiment described herein as“exemplary” or as an “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other embodiments. Furthermore, to theextent that the term “include,” “have,” or the like is used in thedescription or the claims, such term is intended to be inclusive in amanner similar to the term “comprise” as “comprise” is interpreted whenemployed as a transitional word in a claim.

All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of the variousaspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or latercome to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein is intended to bededicated to the public regardless of whether such disclosure isexplicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is to be construedunder the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph, unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or, in thecase of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase “stepfor.”

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but are to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Unless specifically statedotherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more. Pronouns in themasculine (e.g., his) include the feminine and neuter gender (e.g., herand its) and vice versa. Headings and subheadings, if any, are used forconvenience only and do not limit the subject disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: at least one processorconfigured to: initiate a link establishment with a network device;determine whether a previously assigned media access control (MAC)address is stored locally; transmit a message to the network devicerequesting validation of the previously assigned MAC address when storedlocally; and communicate using the previously assigned MAC address whenthe validation is received from the network device, otherwisecommunicating using a dynamically assigned MAC address received from thenetwork device during the link establishment.
 2. The device of claim 1,wherein the link establishment comprises autonegotiation and the MACaddress is received from the network device in an autonegotiation page.3. The device of claim 2, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: transmit a request for the dynamically assigned MACaddress via another autonegotiation page.
 4. The device of claim 3,wherein the autonegotiation page and the another autonegotiation pageeach comprises at least one of a base page or a next page.
 5. The deviceof claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:transmit a request for a range of MAC addresses that includes thedynamically assigned MAC address; and distribute the range of MACaddresses, exclusive of the dynamically assigned MAC address, toadditional devices.
 6. The device of claim 5, wherein the dynamicallyassigned MAC address is generated from a 24-bit random value and apre-configured 24-bit value, wherein the 24-bit random value comprisesleast significant bits of the dynamically assigned MAC address and thepre-configured 24-bit value comprises most significant bits of thedynamically assigned MAC address.
 7. The device of claim 1, wherein thedynamically assigned MAC address is unique to a local area network thatthe device is associated with.
 8. A method comprising: initiating a linkestablishment with a network device; determining whether a previouslyassigned media access control (MAC) address is stored locally;transmitting a message to the network device requesting validation ofthe previously assigned MAC address when stored locally; andcommunicating using the previously assigned MAC address when thevalidation is received from the network device, otherwise communicatingusing a dynamically assigned MAC address received from the networkdevice during the link establishment.
 9. The method of claim 8, whereinthe link establishment comprises autonegotiation and the MAC address isreceived from the network device in an autonegotiation page.
 10. Themethod of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting a request for thedynamically assigned MAC address via another autonegotiation page. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the autonegotiation page and the anotherautonegotiation page each comprises at least one of a base page or anext page.
 12. The method of claim 8, further comprising: transmitting arequest for a range of MAC addresses that includes the dynamicallyassigned MAC address; and distributing the range of MAC addresses,exclusive of the dynamically assigned MAC address, to additionaldevices.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the dynamically assigned MACaddress is generated from a 24-bit random value and a pre-configured24-bit value, wherein the 24-bit random value comprises leastsignificant bits of the dynamically assigned MAC address and thepre-configured 24-bit value comprises most significant bits of thedynamically assigned MAC address.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein thedynamically assigned MAC address comprises a locally unique MAC address.15. A computer program product comprising code stored in anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the code comprising:code to transmit a media access control (MAC) address request packetcomprising a first device identifier and addressed to a first multicastaddress; code to receive one or more MAC address response packets eachcomprising a second device identifier and a dynamically assigned MACaddress, the one or more MAC address response packets being addressed toa broadcast address; code to determine, for each of the one or more MACaddress response packets, whether the second device identifier matchesthe first device identifier; code to discard the one or more MAC addressresponse packets when the second device identifier does not match thefirst device identifier; and code to communicate using the dynamicallyassigned MAC address from one of the one or more MAC address responsepackets for which the second device identifier matches the first deviceidentifier.
 16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein thefirst multicast address is associated with one or more addressdistributing devices and the one or more MAC address response packetsare received from the one or more address distributing devices.
 17. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the dynamically assignedMAC address comprises a locally unique MAC address.
 18. The computerprogram product of claim 15, wherein a source address of the MAC addressrequest packet is set to a reserved MAC address that is not assigned toany device.
 19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein thefirst device identifier comprises at least one of an internet protocol(IP) address, a random number, or an extended unique identifier.
 20. Thecomputer program product of claim 15, wherein the dynamically assignedMAC address is generated from a 24-bit random value and a pre-configured24-bit value, wherein the 24-bit random value comprises leastsignificant bits of the dynamically assigned MAC address and thepre-configured 24-bit value comprises most significant bits of thedynamically assigned MAC address.